The message of Easter is something we desperately need in today’s increasingly chaotic world. It is the message of being embraced by a loving presence that will never leave. It is the promise of Jesus in his final words to his disciples in Matthew’s gospel: ‘And know that I AM with you always.’

The story of the Lord’s Supper illustrates how Jesus empowered the disciples to take over the ministry. He inspired them to challenge structural and institutional control and take responsibility for creating a better world. We can learn much from this about listening and giving voice and self determination to our own indigenous people.

Palm Sunday invites us to take a side in our peace making. Not a peace imposed from above with superior weapons and force, but a peace fostered through connecting and relationship building. A peace modelled in Jesus who entered Jerusalem disarmed and on a donkey, as opposed to the Roman overlords entering at the same time with displays of might and power.

In our busy lives we often forget to pause to savour the moment; to be still and experience gratitude. A moment of being quiet can be difficult. The times we do this can be real moments of Joy. As we prepare for Easter this year, may we find times to pause and savour life.

Prayer and Work – The Benedictine Rule. As we continue our Lenten focus on issues highlighted in Soul Murmurings by Andrew Kennelly, Liz will explore the interwovenness between our spirituality and our work – both paid and non-paid.

This week Margaret will be discussing the importance of reclaiming the Wisdom teaching of Jesus about non-dual consciousness. Margaret will also be drawing from Andrew Kennelly’s book, Soul Murmurings, to explain how reflecting on life experiences, such as enjoying arts and travel, can begin the journey into the heart and then out into the world again, to a lived experience of the connectedness of all.

This week, Narelle Mullins uses thoughts from Andrew Kennelly’s book “Soul Murmurings” with the focus being on the significance of rituals in our lives’’ ’everyday rituals and those that bring us together in shared spiritual experiences. Given the unfolding of the future of St Mary’s in Exile, there is an even greater need for meaningful rituals that express memories, gratitude, wonder, joy, laughter as well as possibly grief and loss and definitely enduring hope.

As we approach Lent this year and we prepare to celebrate Easter, we are choosing as our theme ‘Soul Murmurings’. It is taken from Andrew Kennelly’s new book with the same name. Andrew writes: ‘Soul Murmurings offers a new interpretation of spirituality.

This week Liz will explore a contemporary understanding of the Doctrine of Trinity. John Shelby Spong said that Trinity is not a definition of God, but a description of how we experience the ultimate reality of the sacred.